Wins Powered by Advocacy and Support of Maryland’s Educators
June 25, 2014: Tuesday’s primary resulted in big wins for pro-public education champions up and down the ballot, and showed the impact of the endorsement of Maryland’s educators.
Based on election returns as of 10 a.m. today, of the 275 educator-recommended candidates for office during the primaries, 86% of them were successful and advance to the general election.
“Educators knocked on more than 13,000 doors, made over 33,000 phone calls, and nearly 1,500 worked at the polls with our Apple Ballot,” said MSEA President Betty Weller. “The involvement of educators in this election has been incredible, and that involvement made a huge impact on Primary Day.”
As in previous elections, voters continued to highly value the endorsement of educators. In the run-up to the election, more than 60,000 visits were recorded to MDAppleBallot.com, where voters could download a customized Apple Ballot of educator-recommended candidates.
Election highlights include:
- Anthony Brown: MSEA’s October 2013 endorsement was Brown’s most significant to date, and educators worked hard to get out the vote for the sitting lieutenant governor. In addition to thousands of personal contacts, MSEA also distributed over 170,000 mail pieces, flyers, and magazines in support of the Brown-Ulman campaign. Brown’s multi-point issue agenda included plans to provide universal pre-kindergarten for all four-year olds, increase funding for school construction, keep college affordable, and expand career-technology education programs. His advertisements highlighted MSEA’s endorsement and his work on behalf of educators and education.
- State Senate: MSEA targeted several state senate primaries and were successful in all of the races where we spent significant resources, including victories for Rich Madaleno (District 18), Joanne Benson (District 24), and Ulysses Currie (District 25).
- House of Delegates: MSEA also targeted seven legislative districts with competitive primaries for the House. Of the 18 candidates supported in those districts, 16 were successful in securing the Democratic nomination. In addition to those priority districts, the association supported Cory McCray (District 45) and Jimmy Tarlau (District 47A) in their winning primary campaigns for open seats in the House of Delegates.
- Teacher Candidates: A wave of educators running for office for the first time were very successful. In the highly competitive District 12 primary for the House of Delegates, Howard County teacher Eric Ebersole emerged as one of the top three vote-getters. In Charles County, Amanda Stewart won a very competitive Democratic primary for county commissioner; in Carroll County, Dennis Frazier won a Republican primary contest for county commissioner; and in Frederick County, Jerry Donald won a Democratic primary race for county council. Four other teacher candidates head to the general election after facing no primary opposition: House of Delegates candidates Elizabeth Paul (District 2A), Gene Stanton (District 4), and Judy Davis (District 38C) and Frederick County Council candidate Jessica Fitzwater.
- Republican Candidates: Educator-recommended Republican candidates also scored significant victories for local offices yesterday, including recommended candidates winning in four out of five Carroll County commissioner races (Steve Wantz, Richard Weaver, Dennis Frazier, and Doug Howard) and in a very competitive Calvert County commissioner race (Mike Hart in District 1).
